What happens to marketing when clicks disappear?

In this episode of Fixing the Game, Luke sits down with Rand Fishkin (Co-founder of SparkToro, former Moz founder) to break down one of the biggest shifts in digital marketing: the move toward zero-click content, AI-driven search, and platform lock-in.

Rand challenges many of today’s assumptions about SEO, content, and AI and explains why most marketers are focusing on the wrong things.

🔥 Key takeaways from this episode:

• Zero-click is not new (and not caused by AI)
  Platforms like Google, Instagram, and LinkedIn have been reducing outbound traffic for years. AI is just the latest layer.
• Traffic is a vanity metric
  Less traffic doesn’t mean less revenue. Many companies see traffic down, revenue up—because users convert later, not earlier.
• Stop chasing clicks. Start building demand.
  The goal isn’t to drive traffic—it’s to ensure people search for you when they’re ready to buy.
• “Great content” is no longer a strategy
  Generic, high-quality content is now commoditized. AI can create it instantly.
  What works: original, opinionated, “spiky” content that stands out.
• Brand is the ultimate growth lever
  Recognition and trust make every channel more effective—especially sales and outbound.
• Focus on your audience, not the hype
  It doesn’t matter what ChatGPT or Google does globally.
  What matters: where your audience actually spends time.
• Distribution has changed
  Your website is no longer the main traffic driver—it’s your home base.
  Attention is won on platforms like LinkedIn, YouTube, Reddit, etc.
• Viral loops matter more than ever
  With traffic harder to get, your product and content must be shareable by design.
• Audience research is the foundation
  Understanding behaviors, preferences, and channels is more valuable than ever—for both product and marketing.
• Execution still beats theory
  Learn how platform algorithms work and adapt. That edge is just as powerful today as it was 20 years ago.

💡 One core idea to remember:

Marketing isn’t dying.
It’s going back to what it always was:

👉 Build a brand
👉 Earn attention
👉 Create demand
👉 Show up when it matters

What does it really take to scale companies to millions of users?

In this episode of Fixing the Game, Luke sits down with Irina Scarlat, a seasoned growth leader who helped scale some of Europe’s most disruptive companies including Uber, Revolut, and Bitpanda. Today she is CMO at Improbable and a growth advisor to fast-growing tech companies.

Irina has spent her career building and optimizing growth engines—from launching global brands in new markets to designing scalable acquisition and retention systems. In this conversation, she breaks down the principles, frameworks, and mindset behind sustainable growth.

A central theme of the episode is Irina’s definition of growth: a scientific process of problem solving. Growth, she explains, sits at the intersection of product, marketing, and data—and successful teams treat it as a structured, iterative discipline rather than a creative guessing game.

Luke and Irina explore how to diagnose growth challenges by analyzing the full funnel—from acquisition and conversion to retention and monetization—and why understanding the root cause of a problem is essential before trying to fix it.

They also dive into one of the most overlooked concepts in growth: product–channel fit. Even great products fail to scale if they rely on the wrong channels at the wrong stage. Irina explains how companies should prioritize owned channels first, then earned, and only later paid channels, once product-market fit and traction are clear.

Another key lesson: growth rarely comes from dozens of channels working at once. Instead, the most successful companies focus on a few channels that work exceptionally well, then expand as the product and market mature.

Irina also shares tactical examples from her time at Uber and Revolut, including early-stage strategies that many companies overlook today. These include “things that don’t scale”—such as community meetups, user dinners, and direct engagement with early customers. While these tactics aren’t scalable long term, they often create the foundation for word-of-mouth, network effects, and exponential growth.

Beyond tactics, the episode explores what separates good growth teams from great ones. Irina discusses how she builds high-performing teams and why talent density, ownership, curiosity, and resilience matter more than specific skills.

Finally, the conversation turns to a topic rarely discussed in growth: discipline. According to Irina, consistent execution and the willingness to show up—even when it’s hard—are often the real difference between success and failure.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

• Why growth is fundamentally a scientific problem-solving process
• How to diagnose growth challenges across the entire funnel
• The importance of product–channel fit and choosing the right channels at the right stage
• Why most companies succeed with only a few high-performing channels
• How early-stage tactics that don’t scale can unlock massive growth later
• The difference between a channel problem and an execution problem
• How to build and lead high-performing growth teams
• Why discipline and consistency are underrated growth advantages

If you’re building a startup, leading marketing, or trying to unlock new growth levers in your business, this episode is packed with practical insights from someone who has scaled some of the most iconic fintech and mobility brands in the world.

Enjoy the conversation.

In this episode, I’m joined by John James—a global commercial strategist and founder of Hybrency. John’s helped companies across 50+ sectors grow smarter by fixing the overlooked fundamentals of commercial strategy.

In this episode, we unpack what commercial strategy really means, why so many teams get it wrong, and how independent advisors like John are reshaping the future of consulting. John, welcome to the show!